How to deal with herpes zoster pain and how to relieve pain

Shingles is one of the common skin diseases in summer, which is often accompanied by pain and may even cause blisters, blood blisters, erosions, etc. Pain is one of the most unbearable symptoms. How can I relieve the pain of shingles?

1: Peripheral neuropathy Herpes zoster can cause peripheral neuropathy and herpes zoster neuralgia during the onset period. The hyperalgesia caused by thermal stimulation is most significant in the skin areas with the most severe skin lesions, and the pain rating and severity of allodynia in patients with thermal stimulation hyperalgesia are significantly increased. Some non-noxious stimuli (such as warmth or slight cold) can cause severe pain. There may be multiple sensory modalities within the painful dermatomes of patients with postherpetic neuralgia, thus contributing to the persistent and multifaceted pain of postherpetic neuralgia.

2: Central nervous system abnormalities One of the complications of herpes zoster is aseptic meningitis, which shows that herpes zoster may affect the central nervous system while causing peripheral neuropathy. A comparative study of brain activity in patients with chronic pain using radioisotope PET technology revealed a significant decrease in thalamic activity on the contralateral side of the affected limb in patients with pain, and changes in the function of the thalamic pain modulation circuit may be an important cause of chronic pain.

3: Surveys related to mental factors show that 25% of patients suffer from insomnia, and 20% suffer from mental distress, such as helplessness and depression. Elderly patients over 50 years old have more insomnia, accounting for 30%, which is significantly more than young patients under 40 years old. Are psychiatric symptoms related to central nervous system disease? Some pain symptoms may be directly related to mental state.

1: Currently, Western medicine at home and abroad believes that it is extremely difficult for patients with postherpetic neuralgia to completely restore their pain and paresthesia to normal. The treatment of refractory postherpetic neuralgia mainly focuses on relieving pain, improving sleep, and improving quality of life; for milder postherpetic neuralgia, efforts are made to promote complete recovery.

2: Oral administration remains the preferred method for treating postherpetic neuralgia. Drug treatment mainly includes: opioids (sustained release), antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs, etc. When there is inflammation, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics should be added, but which drug is most effective still needs to be confirmed by large-sample, randomized, double-blind controlled studies.

3: In addition, in the early stages of postherpetic neuralgia, nerve block combined with ozone therapy is also effective. Stellate nerve block, epidural block, paravertebral nerve block and nerve trunk block can all be selected and applied according to the nerve innervation of the painful area. Clinically, 70% to 80% of patients can relieve pain by using sympathetic nerve blockade combined with ozone therapy within 3 months of onset. Ozone has good effects in adjusting nerves, local anti-inflammatory, analgesic and nerve nutrition. When it is injected near the damaged nerve roots, it has obvious relief effects.

4: Patients with long-lasting and refractory postherpetic neuralgia suffer from long-term pain and are terribly miserable. They not only suffer from depression, psychological abnormalities, and poor quality of life, but also their work and social abilities are reduced or even lost. For these patients, the effect of nerve block is significantly reduced, and nerve destruction can be used to achieve long-term therapeutic effects. For example, pulsed radiofrequency ablation technology, with its unique intermittent thermal ablation method, can only destroy the sensory branches of peripheral mixed nerves without destroying the motor branches, that is, interrupting the transmission of pain signals but retaining the motor function of the nerves, which can promptly relieve patients' pain and improve their quality of life.

Treatments such as local ice compresses, laser, infrared irradiation, etc. In addition, you can also give patients sedatives and painkillers as prescribed by the doctor and use sedative therapy to relieve pain.